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A2 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2019 STRIKING FOR CLIMATE IN BRIEF Colin Murphey/The Astorian Michelle and Marcus Liotta have been awarded the 2019 DeMuro Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation by Restore Oregon for their restoration of the M&N Building in Astoria. Liottas honored for restoring M&N Building The M&N Building in Astoria was one of 12 proj- ects awarded the 2019 DeMuro Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation by Restore Oregon. Launched in 2013, the award is the state’s high- est honor for the preservation, reuse and revitalization of architectural and cultural sites. It is named for the late architect Art DeMuro, who, among other projects, designed the Mill Pond neighborhood in Astoria. Marcus and Michelle Liotta purchased the M&N Building in 2016. They restored the building, once listed among Restore Oregon’s Most Endangered Places, and stabilized the foundation using earth anchors. The Liottas have since fi lled the building with several new tenants, including South Bay Wild Fish House, Hill’s Wild Flours, Terra Stones and the Recla- mation Marketplace, a vintage bazaar run by Michelle Liotta. The Liottas will receive the award Nov. 1 at the Restoration Celebration gala. Hunters and fi shermen get their day Saturday is National Hunting and Fishing Day. The date coincides with the opening of buck deer season — the biggest day of the hunting year. More than 100,000 hunters are expected to participate. Elk, duck and pheasant hunting seasons open in the com- ing weeks, and 2019 marks a record year for tuna, with recreational anglers catching more than 100,000 fi sh. Oregon’s estimated 703,000 hunters and anglers spend more than $929 million on hunting and fi sh- ing, supporting an estimated 14,700 jobs, according to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Sunset Empire transit district seeks applicants The Sunset Empire Transportation District seeks to fi ll two open positions on the district’s board. Applicants must be registered voters in Clatsop County. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 14 at 5 p.m. The appointees will serve until the next district election in 2021. The board is responsible for opera- tions policy and oversees a budget of about $8 million. Applications are available on the transit district’s website or may be picked up at the Astoria Tran- sit Center, 900 Marine Drive, or the Seaside Transit Offi ce, 39 N. Holladay Drive. Completed applications may be emailed to jeff@ ridethebus.org or dropped off at either location. — The Astorian PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Seaside City Council/Plan- ning Commission, 6 p.m., joint workshop, City Hall, 989 Broadway. Astoria City Council, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. TUESDAY Seaside Community Center Commission, 10:30 a.m., Bob Chisholm Center, 1225 Avenue A. Port of Astoria Commis- sion, 4 p.m., Port offi ces, 10 Pier 1 Suite 209. Seaside Library Board, 4:30 p.m., Seaside Public Library, 1131 Broadway. Clatsop Care Health Dis- trict Board, 5 p.m., Clatsop Care Memory Community, 2219 Dolphin Ave., War- renton. Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District, 5:15 p.m., workshop, Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Astoria Library Board, 5:30 p.m., Astoria Library Flag Room, 450 10th St. Miles Crossing Sanitary Sewer District Board, 6 p.m., 34583 U.S. Highway 101 Business. Seaside Planning Com- mission, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Established July 1, 1873 Circulation phone number: 503-325-3211 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR (USPS 035-000) Published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503-325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 DailyAstorian.com ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Astorian become the property of The Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2019 by The Astorian. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. Printed on recycled paper Subscription rates Eff ective May 1, 2019 MAIL (IN COUNTY) EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$11.25 13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00 26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00 52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00 Out of County Rates available at 800-781-3214 DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.00 Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Renée Rowe, of Indivisible North Coast Oregon, fl ashes her sign to passing cars during the Global Climate Strike in Astoria on Friday. Dozens lined Marine Drive to raise awareness for the need to act on climate change. Grocery Outlet to break ground in Seaside By R.J. MARX The Astorian SEASIDE — Grocery Outlet will break ground in Seaside on Monday, repre- sentatives of the discount grocery chain confi rmed. In March, the Plan- ning Commission gave its unanimous OK for the new 18,000-square-foot Grocery Outlet. A 175-foot-long “turn pocket” along U.S. Highway 101 southbound into Ave- nue N will satisfy the state Department of Transporta- tion and the Planning Com- mission’s requirement for a left-turn lane. The turn pocket will be developed before the new store opens. In Astoria, devel- opers want to build a 16,000-square-foot build- ing on a triangle-shaped lot where Commercial Street runs into Marine Drive. The back of the store would face 23rd Street, across from the new Astoria co-op slated to open in December. An Astoria Design Review Commission decision could come in early October. Wildfi re council tells governor to update fi refi ghting tools By SAM STITES Oregon Capital Bureau Improving Oregon’s abil- ity to fi ght wildfi res could cost an estimated $4 bil- lion, according to the Gov- ernor’s Council on Wildfi re Response, which has outlined more than 50 recommenda- tions the state needs to update its fi refi ghting priorities and techniques. At its fi nal meeting Thurs- day, the council presented nine months of work that it will give to Gov. Kate Brown in early November. When the governor cre- ated the council in January, it was asked to determine if the state was set up for success, said Matt Donegan, the coun- cil chairman. “Is what we have today sustainable given the increase in wildfi res that we’re see- ing?” Donegan said. “I think the general message back from our committees is no. Many of these systems were built for another era and need to be updated and modernized.” The primary charge of the 20-member group, Donegan said, was to fi nd the right strategy that hit key areas of interest, such as saving human lives and protect- ing public health, protecting homes and buildings, remov- ing excess fuel from forests, creating green jobs and revi- talizing rural communities. The council determined that the state needs to reorient some older systems in its fi re- fi ghting protocol that are out- dated for the modern wildfi re realities. That includes the way the state monitors public health related to wildfi res and smoke, emergency response to the fi res, disaster recovery measures, public education about wildfi res and improved research efforts at Oregon State University. Spending more resources Proposed changes would include a multi billion dol- lar, multi decade fuel mitiga- tion initiative to reduce the proliferation and severity of Oregon wildfi res. An invest- ment in fuel mitigation is expected to come from both state and federal dollars, as well as expanded private sec- tor investment and public-pri- vate partnerships. “The estimates that we hear, it’s going to be $4 bil- lion in terms of total costs,” Donegan said. “It’s larger than any one entity. This is going to take the collective power of the public-private partnership.” Recommendations to expand fi re suppression efforts could mean major changes to the state’s wild- fi re response, specifi cally in areas that will help protect fi refi ghters, safeguard build- ings and structures, and help the state meet social, eco- logical and economic goals, Donegan said. “In an era of climate change, fuel buildup and pop- ulation growth, we’re going to have to spend more resources in suppressing fi re,” he said. “There is a hope that a cor- relation between fuel loads and suppression, overtime as we invest more in mitigation both with the wildland-urban interface and the landscape, that we can see our suppres- sion cost decline.” Donegan said state land use planning tools could be used to create cost savings by taking hard looks at defensi- ble space fi re control meth- ods — creating landscaped buffers around structures designed to reduce fi re dan- ger — as well as building and zoning codes to create state- Fre e Est Fast ima tes Call me ti Any Jeff Hale Painting • • • • Residential Commercial Cedar Roof Treatments Exterior Repaint Specialist Over 25 years local experience 503-440-2169 Jeff Hale, Contractor LICENSED BONDED INSURED CCB#179131 Sam Stites/Oregon Capital Bureau Gov. Kate Brown addresses the Governor’s Council on Wildfi re Response at the World Forestry Center in Portland on Thursday. wide standards in community fi re suppression planning. After the council pres- ents its recommendations in November, it will be up to the governor and the Legis- lature to develop options, set priorities for recommended actions and fi nd a way to fund the estimated $4 billion of investment in state’s wild- fi re preparedness, response and suppression. “I’m really pleased with the council’s work,” Brown told reporters after the coun- cil meeting. “This is a diverse group of Oregonians that came together to spend a lot of time and energy to address the changing needs of our communities across the state as it relates to wild- fi re. It is absolutely instru- mental that the state play a role in bringing all the parts together to create healthier public lands, healthier for- ests and of course, health- ier and safe communities for Oregonians.” Smoky summers for some Improved fi re response, more resilient landscapes and better fi re and smoke adaptive communities to keep Orego- nians healthy topped the gov- ernor’s list of priorities after hearing Donegan’s pitch. As an example of fi re and smoke adaptive communi- ties, Brown pointed to the Rogue Valley, where, for the past several summers, resi- dents have dealt with horrid air quality due to wildfi res. “The Oregon Shakespeare Festival typically does an outdoor production. They had to cancel about 24 or 25 of their outdoor productions in 2018,” Brown said. “I want to make sure our com- munities like Ashland and Medford have places to go if there is that type of smoke so that vulnerable populations, whether its seniors, children or people with asthma, have places to go. “We don’t want the Rogue Valley smoked-in for six to eight weeks. It destroys their summer. It’s not healthy, and it’s not good for the economy.” Speaking with reporters after the council meeting, Brown didn’t say where the state would fi nd the $4 billion it could need to make changes suggested by the council. She promised to fi nd ways to pro- vide Oregon’s Department of Forestry — which faces a four-year, $100 million back- log of debt for fi ghting fi res on federal and private land — with the necessary resources it would need to continue fi ghting state wildfi res. “We’re asking (the Department of Forestry) to work under a structure that was created in the 1900s to fi ght fi re in what we’re see- ing is substantially chang- ing conditions,” Brown told reporters. “I’m relying on the work of the fi re council to make recommendations to changes in structure, changes in fi nance and changes in tools the (agency) needs to do their jobs. This department is a one of the fi nest in the coun- try, and we want to make sure they have tools and resources they’ll need in the future.” The Oregon Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group, Pamplin Media Group and Salem Reporter. 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